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Bret Bielema addresses possibility of losing Illinois assistants to Ryan Walters’ staff
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Bret Bielema is adjusting to his first big change on his coaching staff at Illinois. Following the regular season, DC Ryan Walters officially left the Illini to take the head coaching position at Purdue.
Already, Illinois knows one piece of the defensive coaching staff is leaving Champaign to join Walters at Purdue. That assistant is Kevin Kane, the OLBs coach for Illinois the past two seasons, who is leaving to become the DC under Walters in West Lafayette.
On Saturday, Bielema addressed the situation. Bielema acknowledged it is a special situation for Kane to go lead a defense but also said he does not expect additional Illinois assistants to follow Walters or Kane.
Bielema does see a possibility for some non-assistant staff members to make the move to Purdue.
#illini Bret Bielema: Kevin Kane informed he will be going to Purdue. “Him being the sole play-caller there, I can’t blame him.”
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 17, 2022
#illini Bret Bielema: Ryan Walters will hire some non-assistant staffers from Illinois.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 17, 2022
Bielema is also replacing Walters by promoting DBs coach Aaron Henry to the role of DC for 2023. Bielema shared his early outlook for filling the vacancies of the DBs coach and OLBs coach positions this off-season.
#illini Bret Bielema said he expects to fill DB coach spot first. Said he’s looking at some NFL possibilities at OLBs coach.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) December 17, 2022
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.